Medicant withdrawal unit

ABSTRACT

An insulin withdrawal unit for enabling insulin to be withdrawn from a bottle and injected with one hand. The unit includes a base having a pair of upstanding posts to which the bottle is removably mounted. Also mounted to the base is a container for alcohol sponges, a cradle for supporting a hypodermic syringe, and a pair of arms adapted to bear against the side of a table to restrain the unit against movement on the table.

United States Patent 1191 Koslovsky 1 1 Oct. 2, 1973 1 1 MEDICANT WITHDRAWAL UNIT [76] Inventor: Helen S. Knslovsky, 4333 Henry Ave., Hammond, 1nd. 46327 22 Filed: Nov. 23, 1971 1211 Appl. No.: 201,419

[52] U.S. Cl 248/154, 108/26, 211/74, 21 1/86 [51] Int. Cl A47b 73/00 [58] Field of Search 248/146, 154, 117.7, 248/117.4, 187, 150, 105, 102; 211/71, 74, 118,86; 108/26, 26.2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,677,372 5/1954 Barnish 248/311 ux 2,109,727 3/1938 Klein 211/71 UX Kosher 248/146 2,194,224 3/1940 Huuck 2411/1174 X 2,950,889 8/1960 Farrow 248/1174 2,201,257 5/1940 Bcll 248/105 2,899,153 8/1959 Parker... 211/74 UX 2,028,694 l/l936 Spinks 211/89 X Primary Examiner-Roy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner-Abraham Frankel A!t0rneyDavid Paul Weaver et al.

[57] ABSTRACT An insulin withdrawal unit for enabling insulin to be withdrawn from a bottle and injected with one hand. The unit includes a base having a pair of upstanding posts to which the bottle is removably mounted. Also mounted to the base is a container for alcohol sponges, a cradle for supporting a hypodermic syringe, and a pair of arms adapted to bear against the side of a table to restrain the unit against movement on the table.

7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEUum ems INVEN To/a HELEN s. KOSLOVSKV ATTORNEYS MEDICANT WITHDRAWAL UNIT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention is concerned with a medicant withdrawal unit that enables a patient to withdraw and inject the medicant using only one hand. While the illustrative embodiment of the invention discloses the medicant as insulin used by diabetics, the invention is not limited to the use of this medicant.

A diabetic having the use of only one hand has difficulty in injecting himself with insulin because he can not hold the insulin bottle in one hand while inserting the hypodermic syringe into the bottle with the other hand. While it is known to have insulin bottle holders that hold the insulin bottle in place while a syringe is inserted into it to withdraw the insulin, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,513,029 and 2,677,372, a construction is not known which readily permits the operations of withdrawal and injection of the insulin to be readily performed with one hand.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the problem discussed above, this invention includes a base on which the insulin bottle is rigidly mounted with its top facing down and on which a cradle for supporting the syringe is mounted. With this construction, using only one hand, the bottle may be mounted to the base top down, the syringe may be picked up from the cradle and inserted into the cleansed top of the bottle to withdraw the insulin, and the insulin may be injected. The base may also have mounted thereon a container for alcohol sponges, in which event the patient may place the syringe on the cradle after withdrawing the insulin into the syringe, then remove a sponge from the container and sponge the site of the injection, and then place the sponge on a clean area and pick up the syringe from the cradle and inject insulin. After this, the patient may dispose of the syringe, pick up the sponge, and rewipe the site of the injection, and then dispose of the sponge.

In its preferred embodiment, the insulin bottle is mounted to a bottle holder and the bottle holder-bottle assembly is stored in a refrigerator until it is to be used. The bottle holder is a bar to which the bottle is mounted. The bar is mounted in a pair of aligned slots while the insulin is being withdrawn.

In its preferred embodiment, the withdrawal unit is portable and is not anchored or secured in place, but is removably placed on a table. In order to restrain the withdrawal unit against movement on the table while the insulin is being withdrawn from the bottles, arms are mounted to the withdrawal unit that are engageable with a side of the table.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is an isometric view of the withdrawal unit; FIG. 2 is a plan view of the withdrawal unit; and FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the withdrawal unit.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The insulin withdrawal unit comprises a base 11 having a pair of arms 12 swivelled to its sides on pivots l4 and a rearwardly extending strap 16 secured thereto. The unit 10 is intended to be supported on a table 18 in the manner described below.

A pair of parallel posts 22 are bonded to and extend upwardly of the base 11. The posts 22 have aligned slots 24 that extend downwardly and rearwardly from their tops, preferably at a 45 angle. A container 26 having a removable cover 28 is bonded to the base 11 alongside the posts 22 and a cradle 30 is bonded to the base 11 on the end thereof remote from the posts 22.

The slots 24 are adapted to receive a rectangular clip bar 32 having a width corresponding to the width of the slots. A base 34 is secured, as by welding, to the clip bar 32. A plurality of spring clips 36, extending away from the base 34, are adapted to realeasably hold a bottle of insulin 38 in the base 34. The assembly of the clip bar 32, the base 34 and the clips 36 thus form a bottle holder 40.

The withdrawal unit 10 is primarily intended to be used as a portable device that is not anchored and secured to the table 18. When the withdrawal unit 10 is not in use, the arms 12 are swung upwardly, as indicated in phantom in FIG. 3, and the unit is brought to the edge of the table 18. The patient then lowers the arms 12, one at a time, to the solid line position of FIG. 3 wherein the arms bear against the side of the table.

The insulin bottle 38 is snapped onto the base 34 by means of the clips 36 and the bottle-bottle holder assembly is placed in a refrigerator until needed. At that time, the bottle-bottle holder assembly is mounted, by means of the clip bar 32, in the slots 24 so that the bottle mouth faces downwardly and forwardly at about a 45 degree angle and the insulin flows to the mouth of the bottle. Also, at that time, alcohol sponges are in the container 26, and a disposable insulin syringe 42 is resting in the cradle 30. The patient now inserts the syringe through the usual resilient cap in the top of the bottle, which has been cleansed, withdraws the required quantity' of insulin into the syringe from the bottle, and places the syringe in the cradle 30. After this, the patient sponges the appropriate site on his body with an alcohol sponge from the container 26, places the alcohol sponge on a clean area of the table 18, picks the syringe 42 up from the cradle 30 and injects himself, disposes of the syringe 42, wipes the injected site with the same alcohol sponge, and disposes of the alcohol sponge. A different disposable syringe 42 is used at the next injection.

After completing the injection, the assembly of the bottle holder 40 and the bottle 38 are removed from the posts 22 and placed in the refrigerator until needed again. Also, at this time, the arms 12 are raised one at a time to the phantom FIG. 3 position so that the withdrawal unit 10 may be lifted or pushed to a convenient storage area.

Because of the resistance to upward and rearward displacement of the bottle holder 40 in the slots 24, the bottle is rigidly mounted and does not shift in the posts 22 when the patient is withdrawing insulin from the bottle. Because the downwardly and forwardly extending arms 12 are bearing against the side of the table 18 when the patient is withdrawing insulin from the bottle 38, the arms restrain the base 1.1 against rearward movement on the table 18 during the application of the rearwardly directed force by the patient in inserting the syringe 42 into the downwardly and forwardly extending bottle-38. As a result, this step, as well as the other operations described above, may be performed using only one hand.

If it is desired to use the withdrawal unit R as a permanently affixed device instead of as a portable device, the withdrawal unit may be anchored to the table 13 by screws that extend through holes 44 in the arms i2 and a hole 46 in the strap 16.

I claim:

1. A portable withdrawal unit for use in withdrawing medicant, such as insulin, from a bottle through a hypodermic syringe and injecting the medicant using only one hand comprising:

a base adopted to be supported on a table, said base having front, rear and opposed side edges; support post means having a top wall and a bottom wall, said bottom wall of said post being fixedly secured to said base; said top wall of said post being provided with a slot that extends downwardly and rearwardly toward the rear edge of said base;

a bar that is removably received in said slot, said bar having upper and lower faces; resilient clamping means fixedly secured to the lower face of said bar for holding said bottle; and

restraining means secured to said base for engagement against the edge of a table or other support surface for restraining movement of said base when pressure is exerted on the unit in inserting the syringe needle into the mouth of the bottle.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said resilient clamping means comprises a circular base fixedly secured to said bar; and

a plurality of spring clips mounted on said circular base adjacent the edge thereof in an outwardly extending direction.

ment with the top edge of said table or other support I surface.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 further including a rearwardly extending stabilizer fixedly secured to and extending rearwardly of the rear edge of said base.

5. A device as set forth in claim 3 wherein said support post means comprises a pair of spaced apart posts, each having a top wall and a bottom wall, said bottom walls of said posts being fixedly secured to said base, each of said top walls of said posts being provided with a slot that extends downwardly and rearwardly toward the rear edge of said base, said slots being aligned with respect to each other.

6. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said restraining means comprises a pair of L-shaped arms, each of said arms having a pair of connected legs, and means pivotally connecting one leg of each of said arms to the opposed side edges of said base, whereby the other of said legs may be moved into or out of engagement with the top edge of said table or other support surface.

7. A device as set forth in claim 6 further including a rearwardly extending stabilizer fixedly secured to and extending rearwardly of the rear edge of said base. 

1. A portable withdrawal unit for use in withdrawIng medicant, such as insulin, from a bottle through a hypodermic syringe and injecting the medicant using only one hand comprising: a base adopted to be supported on a table, said base having front, rear and opposed side edges; support post means having a top wall and a bottom wall, said bottom wall of said post being fixedly secured to said base; said top wall of said post being provided with a slot that extends downwardly and rearwardly toward the rear edge of said base; a bar that is removably received in said slot, said bar having upper and lower faces; resilient clamping means fixedly secured to the lower face of said bar for holding said bottle; and restraining means secured to said base for engagement against the edge of a table or other support surface for restraining movement of said base when pressure is exerted on the unit in inserting the syringe needle into the mouth of the bottle.
 2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said resilient clamping means comprises a circular base fixedly secured to said bar; and a plurality of spring clips mounted on said circular base adjacent the edge thereof in an outwardly extending direction.
 3. A device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said restraining means comprises a pair of L-shaped arms, each of said arms having a pair of connected legs, and means pivotally connecting one leg of each of said arms to the opposed side edges of said base, whereby the other of said legs may be moved into or out of engagement with the top edge of said table or other support surface.
 4. A device as set forth in claim 3 further including a rearwardly extending stabilizer fixedly secured to and extending rearwardly of the rear edge of said base.
 5. A device as set forth in claim 3 wherein said support post means comprises a pair of spaced apart posts, each having a top wall and a bottom wall, said bottom walls of said posts being fixedly secured to said base, each of said top walls of said posts being provided with a slot that extends downwardly and rearwardly toward the rear edge of said base, said slots being aligned with respect to each other.
 6. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said restraining means comprises a pair of L-shaped arms, each of said arms having a pair of connected legs, and means pivotally connecting one leg of each of said arms to the opposed side edges of said base, whereby the other of said legs may be moved into or out of engagement with the top edge of said table or other support surface.
 7. A device as set forth in claim 6 further including a rearwardly extending stabilizer fixedly secured to and extending rearwardly of the rear edge of said base. 